"It happened because of the healer of the Sheerkhan family, so this is what we should do."
Lucas blurred his face. When he thought of Tiuran's situation in solitary confinement, his mind became confused.
"What do you think will be done to Tiuran?"
"Well, Your Highness has woken up safely, so it will be more than a prison sentence."
Darren replied in a sullen tone.
"She is a stroke of luck. If Her Highness had been in a more serious condition, she would have had to go to the gallows."
Lucas frowned, feeling uncomfortable.
Tiuran had been a vassal who had been loyal to the Sheerkhan family for more than a decade. There was a slight repulsion towards Darren, who casually talked about her death.
"It happened because she was too weak. Do you really have to punish her so harshly?"
"Lucas."
Darren's voice showed signs of warning.
Darren, who handed the peddler a leather pouch containing silver coins as if he were throwing it, dragged him to one side of the hall.
"I know that you harbor antipathy towards Her Highness the Grand Duchess. But please stop openly showing hostility."
"I'm not..."
"Aren't you more worried about the healer's condition than about Her Highness the Grand Duchess's health?"
He shot coldly.
"She is the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor and the hostess of the East. According to the principle, she deserves the death penalty just for harming her. It is a very lenient treatment to stop at the level of a close sentence."
Lucas stared at Darren's face.
"Are you recognizing the Second Princess as the hostess of the East?"
"What's the point of whether I admit it or not? It's already happening."
Darren kneaded the nape of his neck and sighed.
"Now, I can't even break the marriage arranged by His Majesty the Emperor. Whether I like it or not, I have no choice but to accept it. Right now, the more Important Issue Is to strengthen the unity of the East."
Lucas looked heavily into Darren's serious eyes.
Following Barcas around the various eastern regions, he also felt something.
The governors of each region were preoccupied with consolidating their power and neglecting public security, and as a result, looters were rampant in various parts of the east.
There were also capable administrators, but they also seemed to be subtly checking the new Grand Duke rather than offering unconditional loyalty.
As Tyron had warned, the order in the East was silently crumbling. Perhaps they should be fortunate that they have a powerful new leader named Barcas.
Reaching an unwelcome conclusion, Lucas struggled to lower his rebellious gaze.
"I know that."
"Still, I don't want to be treated as an obedient child," he added sternly.
"You only need to be nice while you are in charge of the eastern nobles."
"If you know, please do that."
Darren shot at him viciously like a growling bear.
Lucas smiled sarcastically without giving in.
"No. I'm still doing that. Didn't you see her running around like a rat to avoid bumping into us? You're bending down in front of her."
As if not agreeing with him, Darren raised his thick eyebrows.
He bent his back with his arms crossed in front of his chest and gave him a menacing look.
"That's not enough. Even in formal settings, please provide examples of the Grand Duke couple. If you make rude remarks like that, it is the discipline of the East..."
"Yes. I got it. So stop nagging."
Lucas scolded and climbed the stairs.
He saw Darren glaring at him viciously over the railing.
He snorted at him and quickly ran down the hallway. Then he found three or four maids pushing through the hallway and stopped in his tracks.
The Grand Duke's attendants were carefully carrying trays of dozens of foods.
"There is no queen."
Lucas, who was sarcastically twisting his mouth, frowned.
He couldn't figure out why he was so hostile to her. If he thinks about it, wasn't it he who crossed the line first? He scratched his head in annoyance.
Lucas was also aware that he was mean.
However, when he recalled the moment when he argued with the woman, Irrational anger arose before guilt. Maybe it's because of the way she looked at him.
'...I was like a bug.'
The moment she met his eyes as if she was looking at something most disgusting in the world, he was overwhelmed with an ugly impulse that he had never felt in his life.
He wanted to defeat a woman who pretended to be arrogant.
He wanted to make a mess.
Such a despicable desire boiled in his blood, and he couldn't control himself.
Lucas was staring back at that moment in a daze, and suddenly felt a disgusting energy pierce his throat, and turned around. The realization that the reason he avoided her was not only because of Barcas's warning flashed through his mind.
If he gets close to her, he feels like he's going to witness something dirty inside him that he never wants to face.
As if to shake off that reluctant premonition, Lucas hurried out of the dark hallway
***
"Just one more bite."
I stared at the man holding out the spoon as if I were looking at a monster with two heads.
Could it be that the evil Dreamer is turning on Barcas's shell and pretending to be him?
With such doubts, whether he knew or not, he was observing me, the man urged me in his characteristic, grave tone.
"What am I doing if you don't eat?"
"...There we go. I want to stop eating."
"Just one more spoonful."
"Because I don't like it."
I turned my head to avoid the spoon hovering near my mouth like an annoying fly, and he wrapped his other hand around my chin.
I, who was forced to turn my head, glared at him with a red face.
But Barcas didn't blink an eye.
"If you eat this, I will let you eat your favorite fruit for dessert."
"Funny! I don't want to eat this or that...!"
A spoon was pushed between my parted lips to protest.
I opened my eyes in embarrassment.
I pressed the tip of my tongue with a spoon as if to swallow quickly.
In the end, I swallowed the soggy food. The terrible sensation of slippery porridge flowing down my throat made me frown.
I gave him a fierce look.
Either way, Barcas stood up from his seat with a relaxed face and put away the bowl.
This time, other suspicions raised their heads at such a natural behavior.
He was a man who had lived his whole life under the care of others. A man who has never bowed his head to anyone other than the Imperial family.
Why is he so good at serving meals?
"Have you ever fed someone food before?"
I, who was glaring at him with narrow eyes, suddenly questioned.
Barcas, who was arranging the bowls of food on trays, cast a nonchalant glance over his shoulder.
Soon after, the plain response returned.
"I'm tired of them."
I, who had been staring blankly, set a blade in my pupil the next moment. It felt like all the food I had pushed into my stomach would flow back.
I forced a smile on my convulsive face.
"That's really bad. Leaving your fiancée, who was so devoted to you, you're indebted to acting as a caregiver next to a woman like me..."
"Her Highness 1st Princess was not such a hands-on person."
Barcas, who had put the tray away by the door, spat out indifferently.
"I fed them, not people. When he was a child, Tork took more hands than Your Highness."
I looked stunned.
I couldn't figure out whether I should be relieved or angry at his words.
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